Apparatus for making cement building-blocks.



M. E. SMITH.

APPARATUS FOR MAKING CEMENT BUILDING BLOCKS. I

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 31. 1910.

1 Patented 11111621, 1910.

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MARCUS E. SMITH, OF \VATERTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS.

APPARATUS FOR MAKING CEMENT BUILDING-BLOCKS.

Application filed. January 31, 1910.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 21, 1910.

Serial No. 540,950..

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARoUs E. SMITH, a citizen of Canada, and residentof Tatertown, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts,have invented an Improvement in Apparatus for Making CementBuilding-Blocks, of which the following description, in connection withthe ac companying drawings, is a specification,like numerals on thedrawings representing like parts.

comparatively recently, building blocks made out of cement have becomepopular as a building material, and my present invention relates to amachine for so shaping these blocks that they will readily and firmlyretain an external facing or skin of plaster or cement so as to concealthe joints and thereby render the external appearance of the buildingmore attractive.

To this end, my invention resides in providing a machine with means forforming horizontally across the face of the blocks mortar-holdinggrooves, preferably dovetailed in cross section, in connection withmeans for forming transversely thereof, 11. e. vertically, dead airspaces or transverse openings for rendering the blocks light and dr Thefurther details of my invention will appear more fully in the course ofthe following description, taken with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which I have shown a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of myinvention; and Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the cement block orproduct of the machine.

It will be understood that my invention is applicable to any of the wellknown machines for forming cement blocks, and that therefore I am notlimited to the constructional details of the preferred machine hereinshown.

Hinged at 1 to the upper end of a suitable base 2 are a back 3 and ends4, 5 of a cement mold, said back and ends cooperating with a stationaryfront side 6. The ends 4, 5 are hinged at 7 to the back 3, and adaptedto be secured by any suitable means, as by catches 8, to the front 6when a block is being molded or shaped. The ends 4, 5 are provided onthe inner sides at their lower edges with ledges 9 adapted to receive aremovable bottom or face-plate 10. Just above this bot tom orface-plate, the end 5 is provided with openings 12, herein shown asthree in number, to receive fingers 13 which have a correspondingdovetail shape, snugly fitting the openings 12 and freely reciprocabletherethrough so as to move within the mold or box 86 directly on top ofthe removable bottom or face-plate 10. These fingers 13 are carried byand preferably formed integrally with a frame 14 arranged to slide on atable 15 which extends horizontally from the adjacent end of the base 2,being supported by integral brackets 16. The frame 14 is guided in ways17 formed by the up- Wardly projecting and overturned edges of the table15, and said frame is provided on its under side adjacent its oppositeedges with racks 18 whereby it is reciprocated by pinions 19 on a shaft20 operated by a crank or wheel 21. Extending at right angles to thefingers 13 are forming-plungers 22 whose front ends extend into openings23 formed for said plungers in the stationary front wall 6 of theforming box or mold, said plungers having rod-like stems 24 extending attheir opposite ends through stationary guide brackets 25 for guiding andsupporting the plungers. Pivoted to eaohgplunger is a branch 26 of anarm 27 fast at its lower end on a rock shaft 28 operated by a crankhandle 29 whereby the plungers may be moved into and out of the moldwhen desired.

In use, the box or mold having been closed together as shown in thedrawings, the bottom or face-plate 10 is dropped thereinto to rest onthe ledges 9, and then the frame 14 is moved toward the mold until thefingers 13 occupy the position shown in the drawings, resting directly011 the bottom or facelate 10 and extending across the mold lengthwisethereof. Thereupon cement is poured into the mold so as entirely tocover the fingers 13 and approximately reach up to the level of thebottoms of the plungers 22. Thereupon the handle 29 is rocked forward soas to move the plungers forward entirely across the mold. The remainingportion of the cement is then poured into the mold until the latter isentirely full. As soon as the cement has set sufficiently, the plungers22 are backed out of the mold by swinging the handle 29 back to theright, Fig. 1, and the fingers 13 are similarly withdrawn by turning thewheel 21 over to the right, thereby rotating the pinions in the properdirection to slide the frame let outwardly by the engagement of saldplnlons with the racks 18 until the fingers 13 are entirely out of themold and have been withdrawn beyond the end 5 thereof. Thereupon themovable portion of the mold, a. e. the back 3 and opposite ends a and 5,and the bottom or face-plate 10, are turned on the hinges 1 until theback 8 rests in a hor1- zontal position supported on a stop or bracket80. The ends a and 5 are then turnedon their hinges 7 out of engagementwith the block, which in due course 1s removed to the drying shed orfinishing room. By this means and method a block 31 1s manufacturedhaving the construction shown in Fig. 2, in which dovetail grooves 32extend horizontally across the face 83 of the block, while dead-airspaces or hollow openings 34 extend vertically through the block in adirection transverse to that of the plaster-holding horizontal grooves32, and yet there is no line of weakness or natural cleavage in theblock, because the block is molded as one integral or unitary piece atone molding operation.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. A machine for making molded cement building blocks, comprising asubstantially rectangular mold, a face-plate for the face of the block,means cooperating with said face-plate to form in the face of the blockan undercut mortar-holding groove extending lengthwise of the block, andmeans for forming transverse openings through said block parallel to theface thereof in a direction transverse to said mortar-holding groove.

2. In a machine for making molded cement building blocks, moldingmechanism, including means for forming across the face of the block aseries of parallel dovetailed grooves, and means for forming throu h themidst of the block parallel to said face a dead-air passage extendingtransversely of said dovetailed grooves.

3. In a machine for making molded cement building blocks, asubstantially rectangular mold, one end thereof being provided with aplurality of transverse openings adjacent its bottom edge, a framemovable toward and from said mold, provided with a plurality of fingershaving a sliding fit in said transverse openings for entering withinsaid mold at the bottom thereof, means to reciprocate said frame and itsfingers, one side of said mold having a plurality of relatively largetransverse openings extending in a direction transversely of theopenings in the adjacent end of the mold, a plunger for each of saidside openings of sufficient length to extend across the mold, andmechanism for moving said plungers through mold and above said fingersand movable through the adjacent side of the mold into position acrossthe mold transversely of said fingers, means for moving said fingersinwardly in one direction, and means for moving said plungers inwardlyin a direction transverse thereto.

5. In a machine for making molded cement building blocks, a base, atable supported thereby at one end thereof, a mold mounted on said baseadjacent said table, a frame carried by said table and provided with aseries of straight dovetail-shaped fingers movable through the adjacentend of the mold into position across the bottom of the mold, a pluralityof plungers mounted in a plane parallel to the bottom of the mold andabove said fingers and movable through the adjacent side of the moldinto position across the mold transversely of said fingers, a rackformed on said frame, a pinion mounted in said table to engage saidrack,

means to rotate said pinion for reciprocating said frame and its fingersinto and out of said mold, and means for moving said plungers in adirection transverse to the movement of said fingers.

6. In a machine for making molded cement building blocks, a base, a moldabove said base having one side hinged to the base and its opposite endshinged to said side, the remaining side of the mold being relativelystationary, a table extending from said base at one end of the mold, thelatter being provided with a plurality of transverse openings, a framemounted on said table for movement toward and from the mold and providedwith a series of dovetailshaped fingers for entering said transverseopenings and extending lengthwise of the mold at the bottom thereof whenthe frame is in its forward position, said stationary side of the moldhaving at approximately midway from its bottom to its top transverseplunger openings, plungers occupying the latter openings and movabletherein into position across the mold for forming deadair passages inthe block at approximately right angles to the grooves formed by saidfingers when the block is molded, and means for moving said plungersinto and out of the mold.

7. In a machine for making molded cement building blocks, a base, a moldabove said base having one side hinged to the base and its opposite endshinged to said side, the remaining side of the mold being re1ativelystationary, said hinged ends having inwardly projecting ledges at theirlower edges, a removable face-plate normally resting upon said ledges toconstitute a bottom for the mold during the molding operation, a tableextending from said base at one end of the mold, the latter beingprovided with a plurality of transverse openings, a frame mounted onsaid table for movement toward and from the mold and provided with aseries of dovetail-shaped fingers for entering said transverse openingsand extending lengthwise of the mold on said face-plate when the frameis in its forward position,

said stationary side of the mold having at approximately midway from itsbottom to its top transverse plunger openings, plungers occupying thelatter openings and movable therein into position across the mold forforming dead-air passages in the block at approximately right angles tothe grooves formed by said fingers when the block is molded, and meansfor moving said plungers into and out of the mold.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

MARCUS E. SMITH.

Witnesses M. J. SPALDING, EDWARD MAXWELL.

